Miss Community Gardens
| Formation | 1969 |
|---|---|
| Type | Local Female Youth Pageant |
| Headquarters | Kensington, Prince Edward Island |
| Location | |
| Website | Official website |
The Miss Community Gardens competition is an annual Canadian beauty pageant in Kensington, Prince Edward Island which puts a spotlight on young women representing many of the communities in the eastern part of Prince County. The winner of the pageant is awarded the title of "Miss Community Gardens" for one year, and will act as ambassador for the region during her reign.
The pageant falls under the wider umbrella of the Kensington Harvest Festival, a community festival taking place in mid-August in the community of Kensington on Prince Edward Island. The event has come to be known as P.E.I.'s largest country fair and includes many activities aside from the pageant, including a foot race, a beach volleyball tournament, the always popular street parade, a kite-flying contest, an Anne of Green Gables Lookalike contest, a rec softball tournament, a children's step dancing competition, a teen dance, a pancake breakfast, open bed races, a lyp-sync contest, a chicken and pork barbecue, the Harvest Festival Dance, an ecumenical service, a golf tournament, matinee horse races, a baby pageant, and last but not least, P.E.I.'s largest flower show.[1]
The pageant originated as a beauty contest in 1969, but now prefers to avoid this term and the connotations associated with it; although an Evening Wear portion of the contest remains, it is by not the only measure used to judge contestants. The pageant takes place over three consecutive evenings in the Community Gardens rink. The pageant is popular with the residents of Kensington and surrounding communities, and many assemble each of these evenings to take part.
Aside from title of Miss Community Gardens, contestants are awarded prizes for Second Runner Up and Miss Congeniality.
History[edit]
Ida Peppin served as pageant director for each of the first 32 Miss Community Gardens pageants, and officially stepped down in August 2000.[2]
Judging[edit]
1) Talent In the Talent portion of the competition the contestant performs on stage before the judges and an audience. Talents often include singing and dancing, but a variety of other talents have been put on display.
2) Evening Wear In the Evening Wear portion of the competition, the contestants are judged on poise and bearing as they walk across the stage.
3) Backstage Interview During the last day of the competition the contestants are asked a series of questions from a pre-determined list that they answer offstage with no preparation. Questions are similar to those of a job interview. The questions require the contestant to display maturity, confidence and poise, and allow the judges to gain further insight into the morality and character of the contestant. This portion of the competition is weighted heavily, approximately 90% of the total score.
Winners[edit]
The following is a partial list of winners (1969-2013):
| 2015 | Bronwyn Bridges | Summerside | |
| 2014 | Emma MacLean | Kensington | |
| 2013 | Amy Burt | Kensington | |
| 2012 | Alyssa Stewart | Roberts' Petro Canada | Kensington |
| 2011 | Haylea Campbell | Kensington | |
| 2010 | Sarah McFadden | Roberts' Petro Canada | Kensington |
| 2009 | Brea Chapman | Kensington | |
| 2008 | Brittany Evans | Kensington | |
| 2007 | Jaclyn Myers | Kensington | |
| 2006 | Grace Pidgeon | Kensington | |
| 2005 | Hilary Murphy | - | - |
| 2004 | Paige Matthie | Kensington | |
| 2003 | Jennifer Caseley | - | Kelvin Grove |
| 2002 | Candace Woodside | - | Norboro |
| 2001 | Krista MacLellan | Caseley's Bridal Boutique | Indian River |
| 2000 | Melanie Stavert | Kensington | |
| 1999 | Jodi Bernard (née Waite) | - | Kensington |
| 1998 | Jeanette Clark | Kensington | |
| 1997 | Jennifer Picketts | Kensington | |
| 1996 | Lindsay Johnston | Kensington | |
| 1995 | Jaime Moase | Kensington | |
| 1991 | Lori Ann Bryanton | Town of Kensington | Kensington |
| 1989 | Margaret Armsworthy (née Campbell) | New London Lions Club | Kensington |
| 1979 | Cathy Woodington | ||
| 1978 | Janet Lester | ||
| 1977 | Grace Jenkins (née Picketts) | Woodleigh Replicas | |
| 1976 | Susan Henry | ||
| 1975 | Natalie Huestis | ||
| 1974 | Paula Champion | ||
| 1973 | Betty Graham | ||
| 1972 | Susan MacKay (née Stewart) | ||
| 1971 | Isobel MacLeod | ||
| 1970 | Kay Harding | ||
| 1969 | Norma Dougherty (née Hickey) | - | Kensington |
| 1968 | Leta MacLeod |
Notable Contestants[edit]
Rose Cousins, Halifax, Nova Scotia based singer-songwriter.
Hilary Murphy, artisan, entrepreneur and fashionista.
Candace Woodside, CFCY Summerside radio personality and athlete.
Controversy[edit]
The Journal Pioneer, The Guardian and Island radio stations provided limited coverage in August 1999 of the Harvest Festival. The County Line Courier, however, did provide coverage of the event.[3]
Further controversy erupted in 2008, when the Kensington and Area Recreation Association became involved in bringing back the Miss Teen P.E.I. International pageant, a scholarship pageant where there is no swimsuit component. The entrants represent a charity and they take part in scholastic tests. In June 2008, the Journal-Pioneer published an article which expressed the opinion that pageants are outdated spectacles that put beauty on display. The article went on to say that pageants is degrading to women, and that if the town wants an event that will empower the teens in the community and earn them money for school, the town might look at a scholarship that young people of both genders and all shapes and sizes can vie for.[4]
Hosts[edit]
- Ida Peppin: 1969-1999
See also[edit]
![[icon]](/File:Wiki_letter_w_cropped.svg){kind=small} | This section is empty. You can help by adding to it. (February 2011) |
References[edit]
- ↑ "Kensington Launches Annual Harvest Festival". http://library.eureka.cc.rlproxy.upei.ca. Archived from the original on 2011-02-19. Retrieved 2011-02-19. External link in
|publisher=(help) - ↑ "Ida Peppin dies in Saskatoon: Directed Kensington Pageant For Three Decades". http://library.eureka.cc.rlproxy.upei.ca. Archived from the original on 2011-02-19. Retrieved 2011-02-19. External link in
|publisher=(help) - ↑ "Local Events Ignored by Island Media". http://library.eureka.cc.rlproxy.upei.ca. Archived from the original on 2011-02-19. Retrieved 2011-02-19. External link in
|publisher=(help) - ↑ "Put Away the Pageants". http://www.journalpioneer.com/Opinion/Editorials/2008-06-18/article-1400228/Put-away-the-pageants/1. Archived from the original on 2011-02-19. Retrieved 2011-02-19. External link in
|publisher=(help)
External links[edit]
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